Loom grate cleaner



Jan. 16, 1945. J; K. COOPER 2,367,564

LOOM GRATE CLEANER Filed Jan. 17, 1944 Zmnentor (Jo fill K 011 7 600,00

Patented Jan. 16, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Loo'M GRATE CLEANER John Kelly cooper, near Laurens, s. o. Application January 1'7, 1944, Serial No. 518;525

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a'grate or grid cleaner for looms, for the purpse of removing loose threads from the'grate Or -grid, and thus eliminate the possibility of the loom giving a false indication.

In a loom,- a suitable lay is mounted for oscillation on the upper end of sord members, and adjacent one or both ends of a loom, there is a grate or grid disposed adjacent one end of the reed in the lay, and upon oscillation of the lay. a suitable filling fork is adapted to penetrate the grid, and if there is a filling present, the filling fork will be pivoted and fail to actuate stop motion means. If there is no filling cast across the shed in the weaving operation, the pivoted filling fork will penetrate the grate and will therefore not be moved on its pivot and suitable stop motion means will be set into motion for stopping the loom. It very often happens that loose pieces of thread or lint find lodgment across the grate or grid, and thus the filling fork will not be allowed to penetrate the openings in the grid or grate, and the loom will not be stopped even though there is no filling extending across the lay of the loom from one shuttle box to the other, thus resulting in thin places in the cloth.

It is anobject of this invention to provide a greate cleaner which will automatically remove from the grate upon each oscillation of the lay away from beat-up position any loose threads or lint which might be present in the grate, but which will not affect the regular filling which is present in the shed for the beat-up position.

I accomplish the above result by rigidly mounting on the pitman rod extending from the sword to the crank shaft of the loom, a bracket having a brush thereon for engaging and wiping the grate as the lay moves away from beat-up position, and which is automatically removed from contact with the grate upon a beat-up stroke of the lay, due to the change in angularity between the pitman rod and the grate.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a grate cleaner for looms comprising a brush rigidly mounted on the pitman rod, and being adapted to wipe the grate upon each oscillation of the lay of the loom on its back stroke for removing loose ends and lint therefrom.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view with portions thereof in section taken vertically through the lay adjacent one of the swords, and showing the brush in a withdrawn position relative to the grate;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing the brush in wiping position relative to the grate on the beat-up swing of the lay;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the brush andithe bracket mounting therefor, and showing the same in association with the pitman rod in dotted line and the grate which it wipes.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates portions of the lay of a loom which has mounted thereon a pair of swords ll, only one of which is shown, and adjacent sword H is a grid or grate l2 through which the prongs of a filling fork (not shown) are adapted to penetrate the spaces l3 when the lay swings in one direction. The lay is oscillated by means of the swords having projections I4 thereon to which is pivotally connected one or more pitman rods [5 whose other ends are pivotally connected to the crank throws l6 of the conventional crank shaft of the loom. Fixedly secured on the pitman rod I5 by any suit able means such as a bolt I1 is a bracket l8 which projects laterally of the pitman rod, and then upwardly, and has a substantially horizontal portion I9 which is threaded for the reception of a turnbuckle arrangement comprising a cylinder 20 having oppositely threaded openings in its two ends, and suitable lock nuts 2| and 22 are pro-.- vided at each end of this cylindrical portion 20. In the other end of the cylindrical portion 20 is threadably secured an off-set arm 23 which is locked in position by the lock nut 22. This projects laterally and then upwardly, and has the upwardly directed portion 24 which has suitable holes therein penetrated by screws 25 which penetrate a base 26 of a brush member having a plurality of tufts of bristles 21 therein which are adapted to wipe the grate bars l2 upon each back stroke oscillation of the lay of the loom away from beat-up position.

It is thus seen that with the crank shaft running in a clockwise direction in Figures 1 and 2 that when the outermost portion of crank throw [6 is extending to the right that the beatup will have been completed, and the lay will start on its back stroke, and when the crank throw is extending all the way to the left in Figures 1 and 2, the back stroke will have been completed, and as the back stroke is completed, the pitman rod 15 will be extending substantially at right angles to the grate l2, but as the loom starts its beat-up as shown in Figure 2, the crank throw l6 will rise as it moves in a clockwise manner and the bristles 21 will wipe the grate bars l2, but by the time the crank throw is all the way to the right in beat-up position, the bristles 21 will be moved from the grate bars and will continue to be moving away from the grate bars until the crank throw has moved approximately to the position shown in Figure 1 at which time the bristles 21 start movement towards the grid I2 and continue their motion toward the grid 12 until the crank throw has advanced past upright position while travelling in a clockwise manner in Figure 2, so it is seen that the bristles wipe the grate on the back stroke of the lay away from the beatup position, and begin to withdraw from the grid as the lay is moved towards beat-up position. Therefore, the brush does its cleaning on this backward motion of the lay, and at this time, the filling is not present adjacent the grid at the time the brush is wiping the grid.

In the drawing and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a loom having an oscillating lay provided with a grate into which a filling fork is adapted to project upon oscillation of the lay in one direction, said lay having a pitman rod pivotally connected thereto, and connected to a crank shaft for imparting oscillations to the lay, a rigid bracket fixedly mounted at one end on the pitman rod and projecting upwardly above the pivot point between the pitman rod and the lay, and having a brush on its free end having a height which is substantially the height of the grate adapted to extend through the grate upon oscillation of the lay in one direction due to the change of angularity between the lay of the pitman rod and to move away from the grate when the lay oscillates in the other direction.

2. In a loom having a lay provided with a grate and having a crank shaft with a pitman rod pivotally connected to the crank shaft and the lay for imparting oscillatory movement to the lay, a brush member rigidly mounted on the pitman rod andhaving a height which is substantially the height of the grate and adapted to extend through the grate upon each oscillation of the lay away from beat-up position.

JOHN KELLY COOPER. 

